Twist of Fate article I wrote that was published by Able Outdoors.

To read the full article click on Twist of Fate. I am working on a handful of other articles as we speak. Hopefully you will be reading them soon. Thanks for looking.

DON’T GET LOCKED OUT. STOP THE SEIZURE OF YOUR PUBLIC LANDS! SIGN THE PETITION TODAY.

Follow link to sign the petition: http://sportsmensaccess.org/

THE TRUTH ABOUT ASSAULT WEAPONS

Please share with the uninformed and uneducated. Below is another link in case the video does not work.

THE TRUTH ABOUT ASSAULT WEAPONS

Able Outdoors Magazine

Here is a great magazine for everything outdoors catered towards people with disabilities. They have stories about all types of outdoor activities, product reviews, classified section, travel accommodations/reviews, list of accessible hunts in each state and a whole lot more. Follow the link for more information and to subscribe.

Able Outdoors website

Practice makes perfect

1. PRACTICE

Weekly practice doesn’t have to be a chore, shooting a few dozen arrows 2-3 days a week can really help you stay tuned in to your equipment and form. I like to start in June. Also practicing at different types of 3-D targets helps get your eye used to focusing on different kill zone shots. And when setting up targets try different angles, quartering away, quartering to and of course broadside. I like shooting at a lot of different distances. Practice shooting at longer ranges than you would ever take while hunting. This will help you become more steady for those closer shots during the season. This will help with your confidence.

2. CONFIDENCE

If you get excited anytime you are getting ready to take a shot on a animal, plenty of practice ahead of time will give you the confidence you can make the shot even with some buck fever. There is nothing wrong with getting excited, it should be expected. But the goal is to be able to control it. Easier said than done when Mr. Big comes walking by.

3. JUDGMENT

Consistent practice can help you in your distance judgment and let you get comfortable with yardage. There are also some great rangefinders available that really take the guesswork out of it. If you don't have a rangefinder, time at the range will make the difference when "the shot" presents itself. If you are not good at judging yardages and do not have a rangefinder, don't worry. I know a lot of people that place different colored ribbons and set yardages around their tree stands or hunting blinds. Then you just have to remember which color represents what yardage.

4. MAINTENANCE

Consistent practice in the pre-season will keep you familiar with your equipment and anything that needs to be fixed or updated. The archery stores always tend to be busy right before the season starts with people that just started shooting and discovered they need a new string or other improvements or repairs. Practicing all summer long will get you confident with your equipment and this confidence will let you know when something is wrong. This will give you the time to discover what will work for you way before the season starts. Nothing worse than having equipment malfunction or breakdown right before or during season. Being in tune with your equipment may prevent this from happening.

Mossy Oak Biologic Food Plot

Did not fill my Turkey tag. I think I was out five or six times. The last day I had toms all around me. It was an entertaining day. Anyway this spring I decided to plant a food plot. I decided to go with Mossy Oak Biologic Non-Typical Clover. It is a perennial. I decided to go with clover because the farmstead where I usually hunt is surrounded by corn and soybeans this year. Hopefully this clover will get in the deer's attention and keep it through the hunting season. I might try to plant some fall blend later. Had my brother-in-law rototill up a little spot. The soil looked good but we did it another time a week later just to loosen it up a little more. There was a lot of moisture in the soil. Followed the directions for planting and hopefully we get some good timely rains to get it started and keep growing throughout the summer. Also decided to plant a package of pumpkin seed. If they grow they grow, if they don't and I am out $1.89.

http://www.plantbiologic.com/p-312-non-typical-clover.aspx

Speaking & sharing about my life

A couple months ago I was approached to see if I wanted to speak about my life to some sixth-graders. After a little deliberation and practicing I decided to give it a go. I gave quite a few presentations while in college so it wasn't too big of a deal. But it is always a little nerve-racking get in front of people for any type of event. Especially when the subject matter is about your own life.

The presentation is everything about my life. I touch on a little bit of my life before my accident, talk about the accident and focus mostly on things I have accomplished after my accident.

The students seemed to really enjoy what I was talking about and had quite a few good questions after my presentation. I look forward to doing it again in a couple weeks and hopefully a lot more in the future.

Shotgunning a turkey…

Somehow I was lucky enough to draw a second choice, second unit turkey tag for the spring. That is very odd for the units I put in. Usually it takes two or three years to draw a tag in the units I selected. I have decided I am going after Mr. JellyHead the spring with a shotgun instead of my crossbow. Lucky enough for me, we have a Weatherby PA-08, 12gauge shotgun that has a big enough trigger guard that will allow my trigger mechanism to slide in and attach. I have tried a handful of other shot comes that might trigger did not fit in.

I would really like to get a semi auto shotgun. That would work best in my rifle/shotgun mount. Semi auto would be nice because it gets strapped down onto the mount. There would be no need to take the shotgun off to reload or pump after every shot. But all of the semi auto shotguns I have tried will not work with my trigger mechanism. But I haven't looked that hard and I am still on the search for the perfect shotgun.

This will be my fourth time going after the gobbler in the spring. I have yet to connect. Check that, I have actually hit one but he did not cooperate. Long story.

Here is a video of me shooting a shotgun for the first time with my gun mount. I shot once at cardboard and then once at a 13 striped ground squirrel. I think it is going to work well on turkeys…

Good luck in the woods the spring…

Guide to buying a crossbow.

I cannot tell you how many hours I spent looking for the perfect crossbow for myself before I purchased my Carbon Express Intercept. Everyone has different needs and there is a crossbow on the market to meet those needs. Here is an article I wrote on some of the basics to look for when purchasing a crossbow.

Rule number one when it comes to purchasing a crossbow is that they are not quiet. Doesn't matter what brand or how new. Some are quieter but they are all loud. But most are so fast it doesn't matter how loud they are. You will be surprised if you have never been around crossbows before and you go shoot some just how loud crossbows are. Even the brand-new ones right off the line are noisy.

Another key factor is weight and length. They can get heavy and long. The lightest you will find is around 8 pounds. That is with everything detached, quiver etc. You also find them to be real long. They can be somewhat cumbersome, especially for someone who has never shot one before. But you will get used to it.

Price is always an object. But I would suggest buying the best you can afford. To fully package out everything that you need to shoot/hunt, you can expect to pay around $800-$1500. For just the bare crossbow expect to pay around $300-$1000. This might seem like a lot to pay for but it will last you a lifetime if you take care of your equipment and follow the maintenance recommendations.

There are two main kinds of crossbows, recurve and compound. Recurve crossbows are more user-friendly for the first timer. Just like everything, less parts equals less breakdowns and it is no different with crossbows. I would suggest recurve if I were a beginner. Some have lifetime warranty on their lines of recurve crossbows. Companies that make compound crossbows offer warranties but most of them are limited. Compound crossbows are not that complicated, they just need more attention and maintenance.

There are also options on how to cock your crossbow. Most if not all come with some type of rope cocking or pulley system to cock the bow. Some come with a hand crank built-in to the crossbow. Others come with detachable hand cranks. Built-in are real nice just because they are handy and you're never looking for your cocker.

There are also options on which type of sights you would like to use. There are open sights, dot sights and scopes. There are many different brands available that are made specifically for crossbows. Make sure to check your state regulations on what magnifications are allowed in your state while hunting. Familiarity, good field of view, durability and light gathering are also factors when considering which type of sight to put on your crossbow.

When you start looking for arrows for your crossbow you will be amazed at how many are available. It all depends on what you want to spend. But I will say this, you get what you pay for. There are some companies out there that will spine test every arrow before they send it to you. Others are just mass-produced. But they all have their place. The most important thing is to get the right weight and arrow length that is recommended by your crossbow manufacture.

When you have picked out your arrow the next thing to look at is which broadhead you are going to use. Fixed or mechanical is your first decision. This is like a Chevy versus Ford deal. Everyone has their favorite. But every crossbow has their favorite also. It is just going to take time and patience to figure out which broadhead shoots best with the arrow you choose for your crossbow. The combinations of these three things are endless. Remember to check your state regulations for which broadheads are legal.

Every year there seems to be more and more companies coming out with their own line of crossbows. Some companies have been around for years while others are just jumping in the market. So there are tons of options out there. You can spend as little or as much as you want. The one good thing about all of these companies getting into the crossbow business is all of the new technology and innovations that have been made specifically for crossbows. And just like everything, there are good companies to deal with and there are not so good companies to deal with. You will find out which ones are the good ones very early.

Remember, nothing is better than getting out and shooting as many brands as you can. Each is different, and each has their pros and cons. The old adage is true, shoot more…  shoot more often.

Thanks for reading, Clint.

FYI Changing address

Will be switching the name tomorrow to: plegicoutdoorsman.blogspot.com

Hopefully I remember everywhere I have put the link so I can switch them over.

Support my friends at UOA

This was my modeling debut. My friends at Ultimate Outdoor Adventures hooked me up with the T-shirt. It rocks. Although this particular style is not available anymore they have other great T-shirts on their website. Check them out below.

http://www.team-uoa.com/shop/

Going to change my blog address…

I have decided to change my blog address to something more appropriate. I hope this will help people find my blog easier when searching. Skoalongcut served me well but it is time for a new dip.

Here are a couple names that I have come up with:
plegichunter
plegicoutdoors
plegicoutdoorsman
wheelchairhunter
wheelchairoutdoorsman

What do you like? Or do you have any suggestions? Let me know.

Tag soup for me.

Well, the 2015/16 hunting season has come to a close. I sat 18 times with the crossbow in three different areas searching for Mr. Big Whitetail. I do not have much to show for it except having a great time and learning more about my hunting areas plus what might work better for me. I know one thing I plan on practicing a lot more during the off-season. Last year I didn't do too much shooting. This summer's motto will be shoot more, shoot more often. Plus I hope to get in a food plot. Also, make a couple changes to my stands. I have a few ideas to make things better. Always learning something is better than the alternative. Now it is time to go ice fishing and maybe shoot a coyote or two…

Getting old and maybe wiser…

It sucks when you realize that you cannot do what you used to do in the past. I have been in a chair for 20 years and it is starting to catch up with me. Now don't get me wrong I still do a lot, probably more than most do in my situation but I am beginning to slow down. I used to get in the chair every day for at least eight hours. And I did that for quite a few years. Especially through college and about 10 years afterwards. I would get in the chair around 10 AM, get to class around 11 AM, come home around 4 PM and stay up till at least 10 PM. Now if I am in the chair over six hours a day I am not going to be able to be in the chair the next day. Unless it is something very important. This last year I have rarely been in the chair in back-to-back days. It takes a lot more planning now, knowing when and where and how long I will be up in the chair. Now when I get in the chair it is for a purpose and not just to be up. The six surgeries over the last seven months probably haven't helped anything. But what can you do. Shit happens. All you can do is improvise, adapt and overcome… Speaking of that motto, hopefully getting some new padding/supports for my electric wheelchair in the next couple weeks. Hopefully this will alleviate some pain and let me get back to what I used to be able to do.

Paralyzed North Dakota Man Takes Mountain Lion

From left to right, Beau Wisness, Dusty Hausauer, Chase Wisness, Rusty Christophersen, Chaston Lee and Hailey Schaper pose with the mountain lion that Chase Wisness, who is paralyzed from the waist down, killed on Monday. It was the last mountain lion allowed to be hunted in western North Dakota this year. (Submitted Photo)

http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/news/local/3908001-paralyzed-keene-man-takes-last-mountain-lion-season-nd-help-his-friends

The easiest and safest way to let down crossbow after a hunt

Usually I just shoot an arrow into the ground after my hunt to release the crossbow. But when the ground is frozen this is the only safe way to de-cock the bow. 

Still at it

About three more weeks to go until the end of the North Dakota bow season and I still have not slayed  a whitetail. It isn't for lack of trying. I have been sitting in my stands 16 times so far. They just seem to be there when I ain't. But that is why they call it hunting and not killing. Here are some pics from my latest hunts. Plus a couple pictures from trail cameras. Good luck to all who are still hunting.

Slow hunting season so far

I haven't sat as many times this year as I usually do. My next hunt will be my 12th day in the field chasing Mr. Whitetail. It has been pretty slow compared to past years. I believe I have only seen three bucks, no shooters and I had another buck within ear range but he would not come in. I played with him for a while with my grunt tube but to no avail. We are right in the middle of the rut here in North Dakota so it should pick up. Hopefully you are having better luck than I. Aim small, miss small…

#mossyoakprostaff

Good stuff.

My happy place.

A view deer do not want to see.

2015 Twist of Fate Banquet & Hunt

Another successful year for the  Twist of Fate hunters and guides. They were able to fill eight of the 12 tags on some pretty nice whitetails. No matter how many are killed it is always a success. Here is a link for some pictures from this year with all of the hunters/guides with their whitetails.
Twist of Fate pictures 2015

Here are some pictures that I took during their fundraiser/banquet/meal on Saturday night. The silent and live auctions did well as usual. It is a great time for everyone involved. And you cannot beat the setting in the beautiful sandhills of North Dakota.

Here is a picture of the big tent during meal and live auction.

Dave, one of the guides that has been there since the beginning in 1998 when I first met him and myself after the banquet. #mossyoakprostaff

Took a picture as we were leaving the camp. That right there says it all…

2015 Hunt #1

I got out hunting for the first time this year earlier this week. A little later than normal. Had some complications from a surgery that sidelined me for a bit. But it felt good to get out. Good luck this Fall everybody…

Going down the green mile to one of my hunting spots. #mossyoakprostaff

Not a bad view.